“You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” – Morpheus

Over the years, I’ve had countless parents approach me at soccer games and express how calm our futsal players look on the field. What exactly does calm mean, and why is it used to describe futsal trained players again and again? In The Matrix only a special few were able to decipher the digital code. They saw things others did not. Do futsal players interpret the movements and angles of a soccer field differently as well?

At first glance, calm is used to convey the superior technique that comes from manipulating a round ball on a hard surface. Receiving, dribbling and passing on a hard, flat surface is significantly more difficult than controlling a ball on grass or turf. It’s a matter of physics. Grass and turf offer resistance and the ball slows. If you can control a ball on the trinity of wood, plastic or blacktop, you can boss it on any surface. Master your greatest challenge and the rest is easy. Once Neo knew he could take down Agent Smith, all others were dominoes yet to fall.

Besides the obvious technical benefits, the observant coach or parent often notices the quality decision making. With its time and space limitations, futsal places enormous cognitive demands on players. They must also make quicker decisions due to defenders in constant proximity. When these same players are put inside the acreage of a soccer field, they literally seem to be playing at a slower RPM. They are able to read and analyze the game quicker than their non-futsal playing teammates and opponents. Once Neo truly understands the code all movement idles as he fends off multiple flailing agents with just one arm. Faster, stronger and bigger are great adjectives, yet calmer is the one coated in red.